I come from a family of
fighters. I always thought I’d follow in their shadows, becoming unstoppable in
the ring. That changed the day I saved the life of a woman I loved, but could
never have.

My brother hailed me as a hero, and my reward
was a wheelchair.

Paralyzed, my life became an inescapable
nightmare.

Until I met her.

Ash Mabie had a heart-stopping smile and a
laugh that numbed the rage and resentment brewing inside of me. She showed me
that even the darkest night still had stars, and it didn’t matter one bit that
you had to lie in the weeds to see them.

I was a jaded asshole who fell for a girl with
a knack for running away. I couldn’t even walk but I would have spent a
lifetime chasing her.

Now, I’m on the ropes during the toughest
battles of my life.

Fighting the shadows of our
past.

Fighting to reclaim my
future.

Fighting for her.

Excerpt

I dropped to my hands and knees, following the noise. “Got
it!” I shouted, stretching my arm under the bed and barely catching the alarm
clock with the tips of my fingers.

I quickly turned it off, and he had apparently found the
second alarm, because the room fell blessedly silent. Well, that was until I
heard Flint breathe, “Fuck,” from behind me.

It was then that I remembered I was naked and kneeling
with my chest to the carpeted floor and my ass sticking straight up in the air.
I glanced over my shoulder to find him standing, staring down at me, his
already large cock thickening between his legs—a sight that had me returning
his curse.

“Don’t move,” he commanded when I started to sit up.

As Flint’s heated eyes leveled me, there was a part of me
that felt as though I should have covered up. But I didn’t feel insecure at
all. Under his gaze, I felt more secure and wanted than I had in my entire
life, and for that alone, I pressed my ass even higher into the air.

“I lied. Get on the bed, but right back in that position.”

First, I had other plans. I sat up but didn’t push to my
feet. Instead, I spun on my knees and slowly crawled over to him.

“Don’t do that,” he warned, but his eyes said otherwise.

“I have a few apologies to make.” I licked my lips.

“On the bed, Ash.”

“No,” I responded.

He arched an admonishing eyebrow, which I ignored.

“You did a lot of things to me last night—things I loved.
But there was something I wanted to do.” I wrapped my hand around his hard-on,
steadily gliding to the tip and back again. “I’m going to suggest you sit
down.”

And for once, Flint didn’t have a retort. He backed up to
the edge of the bed and dropped his crutches to the floor. I smiled in victory
as I followed him forward, running my hands up his thighs until I reached the base
of his cock. Then I lowered my head to kiss the tip.

“Wait,” he urged.

But I was done taking his orders. I slid his length as
deep as possible into my mouth. “Fuck,” he hissed.

“Wait,” he repeated as I glided back up his shaft. He
pulled me upright before bending forward to kiss my shoulder. Using my chin to
tip my head, he forced my eyes to his. “I said wait.” He chastely kissed my
mouth and teased his hands down my sides to rest on my hips.

Then the ground below my knees disappeared and the entire
world turned upside down.

Literally.

A loud laugh escaped my throat as Flint flipped me onto
the bed to join him. He juggled me like a rag doll until he until he found a
position that suited him—kneeling over his face.

I stopped laughing immediately when his mouth sealed over
my clit.

Then I cried out as his long finger found my opening. His
other hand darted between us and lifted his cock toward my mouth.

With a swirl of his tongue, he dropped his head to the bed
long enough to say, “Now, apologize all you like while I have breakfast.”

I gasped as his fingers began a rhythm inside me that left
me unable to focus on anything else.

“Are you sore?”

“A little.” I managed to pull myself together long enough
to find his cock again. But I instantly regretted my answer when he removed his
finger.

“Then you come on my mouth, but you better get busy.” He
swatted my ass deliciously hard before using each cheek to pull me down to
hover only a centimeter from his mouth. “Because I’m coming in yours too.” He
pulled me down until I completely covered his face, licking and sucking in a
deep and greedy way I should have been embarrassed by.

But embarrassment would have required thoughts, and right
then, every single brain cell I possessed had abandoned me in the hunt for
climax.

I came on his mouth, all right. Then, when I finally got
my act together, he came in mine as well. And Flint being Flint, well, he was
such an overachiever that he insisted on showing me exactly how much he
accepted my sexual apologies. So, before I fell asleep on his chest, I came one
last time with his hand between my legs.

I decided I could live with two alarm clocks if that was
the wake-up call they provided.

Review

"Whoever said time heals all wounds was an ignorant a**hole. In my experience, time made everything worse. While I had been making great strides in my recovery, I was still stuck with useless legs and a suffocating obsession for my brother's wife."I will start this by saying...Holy crap I love those Page brothers!!!I thought Till and Eliza's story was good, but Flint and Ash's blew it out of the water! After the cliffy from Fighting Silence, I knew this book was going to be great. The prologue grabbed me so fast! I instantly wanted to know more about who Ash was and how she became Flint's number one mission. "I was absolutely winning the war he didn't even know we were fighting. Victory was within my reach. And he was my prize."Flint didn't have it easy. After an awful gunshot wound to the back, he was left in a wheelchair, but that wasn't all his issues. He had spent years pining after a woman that will never be his while also trying to figure out what to make of his life. His first nineteen years of life had seen more than anyone could imagine, but he one thing he never saw coming was blonde-haired beauty with a laugh he couldn't stop listening to."I had no idea what the hell Ash Mabie wanted or better yet why she wanted it from someone like me, but I knew with 100 percent certainty that I was going to give it to her."

Ash was a girl who always seemed to be on the run...literally. Her childhood had been wasted away because of her father and his conniving ways. But that didn't stop her dreams. She had a lot of them and she intended on making them come true.Her luck seemed to be changing when she was introduced to a brooding man with a mysterious smile hidden behind deep pain. She had to know him. She was drawn to him in more ways than she could describe."I could have lived the rest of my life under Flint's dark and heated gaze. His lids were hooded and I was relatively sure he had every intention of devouring me. And I had every intention of letting him."

I can't tell you how much I wanted to push these two together! Not only were they fighting the feelings they were having for each other, but they each were fighting an internal battle that was overwhelming them both.

I love the way that Aly writes these characters. She showcases not only their strengths, but their weaknesses. They each have something to prove, not only to their families, but to themselves.

"I needed her to go. I needed to be alone. I needed her to crawl into my lap and tell me that she'd never leave and that she'd love me forever."

Gahhhh! This story was sooooo good! It had me laughing in some moments, tearing up in others, fanning myself because---GOOD LAWD IT GETS HAWT---and then I was swooning!

It was also great to see everyone growing up throughout the years. The Page boys were no longer boys, but men that did whatever it took to claim what was theirs and to prove their worth.

"You can try to run and I may not be able to chase you physically, but we need to be clear on one thing, Ash. I will not let you go again. You belong with me. And I will do whatever I have to do in order to keep you. I screwed up the first time. I won't do it again. You can walk out that door, but know that I will find you. I will chase you for the rest of my life if that is what it takes to be with you."

Need. I. Say. More?!

"In my dreams you were walking.""In mine you stayed."This book was brilliant! I love these two so much! I love when a story gives us a second chance romance, but also a redeeming one. Flint and Ash didn't start out in a conventional way, and they certainly didn't continue that trend either, but it's their story.Aly did a wonderful job with these two and I can't wait for the next one! Oh buddy! I need Q's book like yesterday!!!Wonderful story!!"Don't get caught up in the shadow that you forget the man who casts it. You might not be able to walk, but that's the extent of your disability."

Born and
raised in Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy
kids under the age of five, including a set of twins. Currently living in South
Carolina, she passes what little free time she has reading anything and
everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her
side.

After
some encouragement from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her
ever-growing list of job titles. Five books later, she shows no signs of
slowing. So grab a glass of Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with
Aly, and join her aboard the crazy train she calls life.